Thousands of Zimbabweans made homeless by the government’s slum clearance are living in ”desperate” conditions, according to a clandestine video smuggled out and released by Amnesty International.
The video was made earlier this month at Hopley Farm, outside Harare, and shows a makeshift camp with tents of sheeting. Hopley holds more than 2,000 people displaced in June and July. Humanitarian organisations have been refused access to the people by the military, which runs the camp.
An Amnesty spokesperson, Audrey Gaughran, said that when it met people at the camp their situation was desperate. ”They had little or no food, no sanitation, very irregular access to clean water, and almost no proper shelter.” It feared that more such camps could exist.
Operation Murambatsvina, the clearance of townships round big cities, is estimated by the UN to have made 700 000 Zimbabweans homeless or jobless.
British MPs attack ‘belated’ call for Zimbabwe cricket ban
Meanwhile, a call by the British government to have Zimbabwe banned from international cricket was criticised as belated by opposition parties on Sunday.
In a joint letter Jack Straw, the foreign secretary, and Tessa Jowell, the culture secretary, urged the International Cricket Council to suspend Zimbabwe because of widespread human rights abuses.
It followed similar appeals to the ICC by New Zealand and Australia. New Zealand’s cricketers are touring Zimbabwe, and Australia is scheduled to tour next year.
Last year the British government refused to intervene when England’s cricketers played in Zimbabwe, saying it was a matter for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) and the ICC. Under ICC rules, countries that cancel tours can face huge fines.
In the letter sent this month to the ICC chairperson, Ehsan Mani, the two ministers said: ”We would now like to ask if the ICC could reflect on the current situation and take a view on whether or not they see international cricket fixtures against and/or in Zimbabwe to be appropriate.”
The British Foreign Office believes the situation in Zimbabwe has significantly deteriorated. A source at the Department for Culture, Media and Sport said: ”Tessa feels it’s right that [British] government isn’t seen to be sitting back and letting this happen.”
Menzies Campbell, foreign affairs spokeserson for the Liberal Democrats, said: ”I am generally in favour of this, but one has to ask why the government did not show similar resolve last year, and to wonder whether they understand that to single out cricket may not make a great deal of sense when Zimbabwe is competing in many other international sporting events.”
Liam Fox, the shadow foreign secretary, said: ”The government’s response to the increasingly despotic behaviour of Mugabe has been pathetic. In recent years he and his henchmen have been renowned for their brutality yet Tony Blair’s government has done virtually nothing to protest to either China, Zimbabwe’s largest investor, or South Africa, its strongest ally, about their support for Mugabe.”
The ECB insisted it was a matter for the government and the ICC. But last year cricketing administrators felt cast adrift by the government when they were forced to play in Zimbabwe. David Morgan, the ECB chairperson, concerned at the financial penalties, said then that world cricket would grind to a halt if England did not fulfil its tour obligations.
A similar row had beset England’s preparations for the 2003 World Cup, when the team forfeited points in the qualifying round after refusing to travel to Zimbabwe.
England are not due to host the Zimbabweans until 2008 and do not have to travel to Harare until 2009. The issue has flared again because of the tour schedules for Australia and New Zealand.
Both Alexander Downer, the Australian foreign minister, and Phil Goff, his New Zealand counterpart, have called on the ICC to intervene.
New Zealand’s cricketers are about to start a series of one-day matches in Zimbabwe. But the New Zealand government has refused to grant players visas for a return tour by Zimbabwe due for December.
Cricket administrators are to meet at an ICC scheduling summit in Dubai this week to discuss the programme for the next few years.
No one was available for comment at the ICC, but in June Mani said reports of human rights abuses would not alter the ICC’s policy, saying it was governments’ responsibility and that depriving people of sport did not usually hurt governments. – Guardian Unlimited Â